Residenza ai Filippini

The apartment’s layout was quite nice and it’s centrally located, but there were plenty of problems during our five-night stay. Michela replied quickly and communication was good at first. The listing says linens and towels cost extra. I thought €40 per night for three people was excessive, so we brought our own. Parking cost extra too, but Michela couldn’t explain how to register with the local council to drive in the ZTL. Without registration, there’s a hefty fine, so we parked outside and hauled our suitcases. Street noise started shortly before 7:00 a.m. because the old windows offered no soundproofing. Cleaning was superficial: the floors were dirty, there was thick dust between the radiators and towel racks, and the washing machine and dishwasher were moldy. On the first evening there was no hot water at the bathroom sink or bidet. That was fixed the next day, but the broken, unsightly toilet seat was left as it was. When I raised it and said I’d write a review, Michela suddenly got rude. She said she couldn’t get a new seat so quickly, though older reviews had mentioned the issue months earlier and the seat looked as if it had been in that state for a while. The stained sofa was just as unattractive and uninviting. An older review also mentioned a missing TV cable and a showerhead that needed descaling, and neither issue had been resolved. In my view, Michela brushes off complaints and then forgets them. We won’t return.

The location was the only positive. We arrived an hour after the 7 PM check-in deadline, and the owner demanded an extra €50 to leave the key in a locker at another address. She told us it was her discretion to charge whatever she wanted and that we could go elsewhere. Later that night, the other residents rang our doorbell early in the morning over the usual noise of seven people using the stairs and showering. Definitely wouldn’t repeat this stay.

I’m writing too, in response to the manager’s message to my daughter. What she wrote was unacceptable. I can provide evidence that she accepted our reservation knowing the dog’s size and breed. After that, she repeatedly messaged us with “dog welcome...” When we politely questioned the €25 dog tax, since other places in Italy don’t charge it or charge only €10, and the €20 air conditioning tax, she asked us to cancel. That was €45 in taxes on top of the usual fees, which was unbelievable. We still wanted to come, and the dog wasn’t the reason she gave, since she’d knowingly accepted the booking. We said we intended to come and would pay the taxes, but she wrote that she would not let us in if we arrived. That was the first threat. She repeated it, getting more aggressive, and said we’d end up homeless and lose our money if we came without canceling. We were forced to cancel. My daughter then wrote a review on Google. Afterward the manager threatened to report us to the police, the second threat. She needs to stop lying in her replies; I’ve carefully saved them all. And for your information, madam, an Australian Shepherd is indeed a medium-sized dog, as stated in your advertisement. You accepted it without question, knowing the situation, then strangely changed your mind and forced us to cancel.

The accusation that came later really changed how I feel about this stay. Two weeks after we left, the landlord asked us to pay for sofa stains, dirty linens and towels, and a picture they said we had damaged. We hadn't caused any of it, and we'd been careful to leave the apartment as we found it. Before that, the arrangements had gone smoothly, the place was clean, and the price was fair for a weekend in Verona. The windows were worn and did little to keep out street noise, and the bed was very wobbly.